Proposition: The Lord of glory was humiliated, scourged, mocked by
men, crucified upon a cursed tree, and made to bear the sin and shame of his
people and the wrath of God that we might be exalted, embraced, honored and
justified from all our sins in perfect righteousness by our gracious God.

I want to
take our text a little at a time rather than read the whole thing at the first.
As we read these words, remember, Christ endured this for the sake of each of
us here who believe on him.

The Lord
of glory was humiliated, scourged, mocked by men, crucified upon a cursed tree,
and made to bear the sin and shame of his people and all the wrath of God that
we might be exalted, embraced, honored and justified from all our sins in
perfect righteousness by our gracious God.

THE SCOURGING

Matthew
27:26: Then
released he Barabbas unto them: and when he had scourged Jesus, he
delivered him to be crucified.

Barabbas
was a notable criminal who was released and the sinless Lord Jesus was taken in
his place. That is the story of all God’s elect. Our salvation is by Substitution.Our message is of how the Lord Jesus Christ
took the place of notable criminals like us to redeem us from the curse and
condemnation of the law.

Pilate
tried to appease the Jews by scourging the Lord Jesus rather than crucifying
him (Luke 23:22). But the Jews wanted his death. Therefore, the order was given
first for our Lord to be scourged and then crucified.

Scourging was
almost as cruel as the crucifixion. They took a whip of rawhide where each strand
of the whip had bone fragments tied into it. When the whip came across a man’s
back, it literally plowed it up. Our Lord Jesus received thirty-nine lashes
from the scourge! Thus the
Scriptures were fulfilled.

Psalms 129:3: The plowers plowed upon my back: they made long their
furrows.

Isaiah 50:6: I gave my back to the smiters, and my cheeks to them
that plucked off the hair: I hid not my face from shame and spitting."

Isaiah 53:5: But he was wounded for our
transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the
chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes
we are healed.

Remember, as bad as this scourging was, it was a visible emblem of something far worse that our
Savior bore: the divine justice of God whipping his soul.

THE SOLDIER’S FUN

Matthew 27: 27: Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the common
hall, and gathered unto him the whole band of soldiers. 28: And they stripped him, and put on
him a scarlet robe. 29: And when
they had platted a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a
reed in his right hand: and they bowed the knee before him, and mocked him,
saying, Hail, King of the Jews! 30:
And they spit upon him, and took the reed, and smote him on the head. 31: And after that they had mocked
him, they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led
him away to crucify him.

Normally
those convicted were given time between sentencing and execution to spend with
their family. But the Son of God was scourged then he was carried off by the
soldiers to be tormented immediately.We are talking between 500 and 1500
soldiers. Their big fun for the day was to mock the God of glory, the Prince of
Life.Here is what they did to him:

“They stripped him.”
When Adam sinned, he became
ashamed at his nakedness. Shame at our nakedness came into this world by sin.So when Christ
gave himself to be made sin for us, he was stripped naked and put to public
shame! He was stripped that we might be
clothed.

They “put on him a
scarlet robe.”This was probably just some old
coat one of the soldiers had.But in
their derision of him, they fulfilled the will of God and the Word of God.

Isaiah 63: 2: Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel,
and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat?

Then “they platted
a crown of thorns and put it on his head and put a reed in his hand. Then they
bowed the knee before him and mocked him, saying, Hail, King of the Jews.” They mocked his claim to be the King of Israel with a
crown of thorns and a reed for a scepter. But this was according to the purpose
of our God.Remember, when Abraham said, “My son God
will provide himself a lamb?” Where was the substitute lamb presented to take
Isaac’s place? It was caught in a thicket of thorns. (Gen. 17:13).Soon
at his name every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord of
lords and King of kings to the glory of God.

“They spit upon him
and they took the reed, and smote him on the head.” Remember, the Son of God bore this for his people—for you
and me who trust him. Christ bore this for you and I who did this very thing—mocked
him—by our unbelief and our rebellion

"And after that they had mocked him,
they took the robe off from him, and put his own raiment on him, and led him
away to crucify him."They put his own clothes back on him. Then they led
him away, as a lamb to the slaughter, to crucify him. Christ said not a word in
defense of himself.

Isaiah 53:7: He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet
he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a
sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth.

We will
come back to Simon carrying his cross.

THE CRUCIFIXITION

Matthew 27: 33: And when they were come unto a place called Golgotha, that is
to say, a place of a skull, 34: They
gave him vinegar to drink mingled with gall: and when he had tasted thereof,
he would not drink. 35: And they
crucified him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be
fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them,
and upon my vesture did they cast lots.
36: And sitting down they watched him there; 37: And set up over his head his accusation written, THIS IS JESUS
THE KING OF THE JEWS. 38: Then
were there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand, and another
on the left. 39: And they that
passed by reviled him, wagging their heads, 40: And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it
in three days, save thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come down from the
cross. 41: Likewise also the
chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, 42: He saved others; himself he cannot
save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we
will believe him. 43: He trusted
in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son
of God. 44: The thieves also,
which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.

The
vinegar was wine that had gone sour. They mixed it with gall which is thought
to be a mixture that would kill the pain.But it was given by the soldiers because
they must fulfill this prophecy because God decreed it.

Psalm 69:21: They gave me also gall for my meat; and in my thirst they
gave me vinegar to drink.

This bitter cup was an emblem of the bitter cup of
God’s wrath that our Savior had begun drinking in the garden and was about to
drink in darkness.

Yet, our
Lord would not drink this pain-killing mixture because he would not have
anything ease his suffering. Instead, he suffered the full wrath of God for us
without any easement of body or mind.

“And they crucified
him, and parted his garments, casting lots: that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the prophet, They parted my garments among them, and upon my
vesture did they cast lots.”That was the fulfillment of Psalm 22: 18.This is to show us God was in full control.But just imagine this spectacle—again they
strip him publicly this time, and cast lots to see who can take home a souvenir.This is us, this is our hearts against God,
in our fallen nature!

“And sitting down they watched him there;”They did what Job’s friends did.They expected to see a good show of
suffering. But our Savior disappointed them. He bore this agony without trying
to free himself.

“And set up over his head his accusation
written, THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.” God will
save one of these thieves. So God used reprobate men to preach the gospel. They
did not mean to do it but God used them to do it.Christ indeed is the King of the Jews—the King
of God’s elect Israel who are Jews, circumcised in heart by God.

Romans 2: 28:
For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that
circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: 29: But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and
circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the
letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Philippians 3: 3: For we are the circumcision, which
worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence
in the flesh.

“Then were there two thieves crucified with
him, one on the right hand, and another on the left. And they that passed by
reviled him, wagging their heads, And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple,
and buildest it in three days,
save thyself.” This was true. Christ’s body was destroyed
and our body of sin was destroyed in him.Then Christ raised himself from the grave three days latter and all his
elect in him. This was the gospel being spoken by men who would have never done
so but God made them willing to say this.

“If thou be the Son of God, come down from
the cross. Likewise also the chief priests mocking him, with the scribes and elders, said, He saved others; himself
he cannot save.” Indeed, Christ is the Son of God.Indeed, if he would save others, himself he
cannot save.Again, this is the gospel
of substitution.

“If he be the King of Israel, let him now
come down from the cross, and we will believe him. He trusted in God; let him
deliver him now, if he will have him: for he said, I am the Son of God. The
thieves also, which were crucified with him, cast the same in his teeth.” God used these truths spoken by wicked men to save one of
these thieves. The thieves said the same mocking things. But God would soon give
one of those thieves a new heart. God would soon bring this message home to his
heart and he would repent and believe on Christ.God may use a liar but God
will make him speak the truth while he uses him.

THE DARKNESS

Matthew 27: 45: Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land
unto the ninth hour. 46: And
about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? 47: Some of them that stood there,
when they heard that, said, This man calleth for Elias. 48: And straightway one of them ran,
and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a
reed, and gave him to drink. 49:
The rest said, Let be, let us see whether Elias will come to save him. 51: And,
behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom;
and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; 52: And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints
which slept arose, 53: And came
out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and
appeared unto many. 54: Now when
the centurion, and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake,
and those things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was
the Son of God.

Crucifixion
was the worst death a person could bear. It was shameful and painful beyond
degree.His feet and hands were nailed
to a pole. Then the pole was dropped in a hole. Then a man drowned in his own
fluids in great pain.Yet, the agony of
soul which Christ bore in separation from God, the fierce wrath of God against
sin, was far worse than what we can see.

Isaiah 52: 14…his visage was so marred more than any man,
and his form more than the sons of men:

But his
outward mutilation at man’s hand is to show us something of what he bore in his
soul under God’s wrath. We know this because it was by satisfying the justice
of God that we read the next verse in Isaiah,

Isaiah 52: 15: So shall he sprinkle many nations;

“Jesus, when he had
cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost.” This was Christ’s final cry from the cross. He cried, “It
is finished!”This was the voice of triumph! This was the voice of
Victory over sin!We see what Christ
accomplished in what happened when he cried, “It is finished!”

He fully
redeemed his people from the curse of the law—“And, behold, the veil
of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did
quake, and the rocks rent.”

He fully delivered
his people from death—“And the graves
were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose”

He
delivered us into glory with the Father in the heavenly city of Jerusalem—“And came out of the graves after his
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

Through
this gospel, he shall bring each of his redeemed to see and say what the
centurion did—“Now when the centurion,
and they that were with him, watching Jesus, saw the earthquake, and those
things that were done, they feared greatly, saying, Truly this was the Son of
God.”

NOW LET’S GO BACK AND LEARN FROM SIMON

Matthew 27:32: And as they came out, they
found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

Sinner
will you be like Simon?Have you been
compelled to take up Christ’s cross and follow him?If we would follow Christ, we must take up
his cross and do so daily.

Luke 14:
25: And there went great multitudes with him: and he turned, and said unto
them, 26: If any man come
to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and
brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple. 27: And whosoever doth not bear his
cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Christ
will prove our faith genuine. He may use a husband or wife, a mother or father,
a son or daughter.But he will make
something that could come between us and God to make us take up our painful
cross and side with Christ against them.If we take up his cross and follow him, we must be compelled by grace to
do so because it is so contrary to our flesh.

In the
light of these things, I urge you once more, my brothers and sisters in Christ,
to give yourselves to him in unreserved devotion, remembering that you
professed in baptism that you were now walking in newness of life.

Romans 6: 4:
Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk
in newness of life. 5: For if we
have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in
the likeness of his resurrection: 6: Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him,
that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve
sin.

In light
of what Christ suffered for us, let us renew our commitment to him daily.

Romans 12:1: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the
mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2: And be not conformed to this world:
but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is
that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God. 3: For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that
is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to
think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the
measure of faith.

Now, let us come and remember our Redeemer’s
broken body and his shed blood at his table.